Chef pay in Wisconsin after taxes: what you keep (2026)

The median cook in Wisconsin earned $36,940 a year in May 2024, which is $18 an hour for a full-time year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Half of the 24,360 cooks the BLS counts in Wisconsin earned more than that and half earned less; the middle half of them sat between $31,200 and $40,600. That is the gross figure, before anyone takes anything. What you keep depends on Wisconsin's tax, and Wisconsin has a progressive state income tax with a top rate of 7.65%.

What the median cook keeps in Wisconsin

For a single filer on the median $36,940, taking the standard deduction and no other adjustments:

The state line is 5.4% of gross at this salary, approximated at 70% of the top bracket, which is where a middle income lands in most progressive states. Health insurance, retirement contributions and local taxes are not in it either; they vary by employer and by city.

Where Wisconsin ranks for cook pay

Of the 50 states, Wisconsin ranks 19 of 50 on the gross median for cooks. The highest-paying state is Massachusetts at $46,280 and the lowest is West Virginia at $28,560. Gross rank is not take-home rank: a state with no income tax climbs several places once the state line is applied, and a high-tax state drops.

Across the border

The same job in the states next to Wisconsin, gross median and estimated take-home for a single filer:

Minnesota and Michigan leave a cook with more at the end of the year than Wisconsin does. Illinois and Iowa pay less once tax is counted. Pay is one line; rent is the other, and a higher median in a metro with higher rent can leave you with less.

Where the cook jobs are in Wisconsin

The BLS count of 24,360 cooks is statewide. The metros with the most of that work are Milwaukee, Madison, Green Bay and Kenosha, which is where the median is set and where the upper quartile ($40,600 and above) is most often paid. Employers who could not hire locally and have filed with the Department of Labor are listed on the Wisconsin openings page; those filings are the ones already paying to bring people in, and housing or transport is often part of the offer.

What people get wrong about cook pay in Wisconsin

• Quoting the mean. The BLS mean for Wisconsin is $18 an hour, pulled up by the top earners. The median ($18) is what the typical cook makes.
• Comparing gross across states. A $36,940 offer in Wisconsin is $29,687 in hand; the same number in a no-tax state is $31,665.
• Forgetting the employer's share of insurance. A job that pays $34,940 with full health coverage can beat one that pays $39,940 without it.
• Treating the statewide median as the metro median. Milwaukee pays differently from a rural county; ask for the figure for the place you are actually going.

Everything about Wisconsin, on one page

The Wisconsin page has the licence registries and boards, the state tax at three salaries, the programs that pay you to come, and the openings filed in Wisconsin this month. If you know which state you are leaving, the move pages compare the two directly. Creating a free Workmerica profile with your trade and your destination puts you in front of Wisconsin employers hiring from out of state.

Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024 state estimates for Chef. Tax lines are a single filer with the standard deduction, 2024 federal brackets, and the state rate in lib/us-states.ts; progressive states are approximated. Not tax advice.